James Mabbott, partner and head of KPMG Innovate, says the elevate61 2017 cohort includes innovative, high-profile companies from sectors as diverse as HR (Adepto), marketing (Scrmhub), and music (Mash in Music).
The cross-section of software-as-a-service start-ups are from Melbourne and Sydney. In its third year, elevate61 is targeted at later stage B2B start-ups which have ideally secured seed funding, turnover of at least $500,000, and have proven traction in local or overseas markets.
From 2 to 12 April, the elevate61 companies will undertake a 10-day mission to San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, including mentoring, networking and targeted sessions with top VCs and industry experts, giving them exposure to enterprise customers and potential partners.
"Australian enterprise tech is well recognised internationally – and the US international expansion path has been well worn by companies like Atlassian and Big Commerce,” Mabbott says.
“These six companies have been selected following a three-day workshop on how Australian startups can break into the US market. They have the potential to do great things, and we hope elevate61 will help propel these companies and entrepreneurs even further, with new skills, mentorship and connections."
The six start-ups joining the elevate61 programme are:
- Adepto: a SaaS platform for organisations to create, manage and engage their own network of contingent workers.
- Bookmarc: a platform for the design & construction industry, enabling products to be sourced from project imagery.
- CancerAid: empowers the cancer community through digital innovation on a global scale.
- Mash in Music: the only real time music sharing platform for consumers, like a Tesla for music, simplifying how you share your love of music with your friends.
- PAM makes wayfinding simple. It is a cloud-based platform for managing signs to create smarter spaces for people.
- Scrmhub: connects the social, digital and mobile ecosystem to measure performance, and using machine learning, maps historical and real-time trends to make actionable recommendations to optimise digital marketing.
Serafina Maiorano, global chief executive, Advance said: "This is the third year we have run this programme in conjunction with KPMG and we have seen some great success stories. Our graduates include SimPro — whose $30 million dollar funding round came from a US-based VC firm, Cover Genius — who last year opened an office in Austin, Texas, and Sendle, whose learnings in the US are helping them to supercharge their growth back home in Australia.”
“We are excited to be taking another group of standout Australian companies to the US, and helping them to impress on the international stage."
